LEVEL II PICKLEBALL INSTRUCTOR CERTIFICATION

Very recently, a number of people have asked me about the “skills test” required to get a Level II certification from IPTPA. Note that the United States Professional Tennis Association (USPTA) now has pickleball certification classes, but if you are an IPTPA certified instructor, and you pay your USPTA dues, you will be grandfathered into USPTA.

In order to get certified as an IPTPA Level II Teaching Professional, you have to pass a written exam, demonstrate a set of skills, and be observed giving a lesson. As IPTPA itself says, passing a series of exams and being observed teaching a one-hour lesson will not guarantee a great teacher. What it will guarantee is that the certified instructor understands the rules of play, and has a thorough knowledge of the strokes, strategies and proper shot selections specific to pickleball.

In order to pass the Level II skills set, you have to perform the following:

  1. 8 out of 10 down the line forehand dinks
  2. 8 out of 10 cross court forehand dinks
  3. 8 out of 10 down the line backhand dinks
  4. 8 out of 10 cross court backhand dinks
  5. 8 out of 10 windshield wiper dinks (travel across the NVZ line performing dinks) See this video (https://youtu.be/lNXnuDBFX10)
  6. 8 out of 10 forehand down the line third shot drop shots in the kitchen
  7. 8 out of 10 forehand cross court third shot drop shots in the kitchen
  8. 8 out of 10 backhand down the line third shot drop shots in the kitchen
  9. 8 out of 10 backhand cross court third shot drop shots in the kitchen
  10. 8 out of 10 forehand down the line volley
  11. 8 out of 10 forehand cross court volley
  12. 8 out of 10 backhand down the line volley
  13. 8 out of 10 backhand cross court volley
  14. 8 out of 10 forehand down the line ground stroke
  15. 8 out of 10 forehand cross court ground stroke
  16. 8 out of 10 backhand down the line ground stroke
  17. 8 out of 10 backhand cross court ground stroke
  18. 8 out of 10 return of serve deuce court
  19. 8 out of 10 return of serve ad court
  20. 8 out of 10 serves deuce court
  21. 8 out of 10 serves ad court
  22. 8 out of 10 overheads
  23. 8 out of 10 offensive lobs forehand and backhand from NVZ line (lob off the dink)

Steps 6-9 were the most difficult. Note that the persons judging you can make this as difficult as they want, although most are interested in seeing how you handle “typical” shots. “8 out of 10” means just that – if you are doing dinks, for example, you have to successfully drop 8 out of 10 dinks into the opposite NVZ at the right place. So, for example, a down the line dink has to land near the side line in the opposite NVZ. The trainers are, for the most part, unforgiving, so if you fail one of the above, you don’t qualify. However, some trainers may give you a second chance on the ones that you failed as long as it is not too many.

After doing the above, you then had to teach an actual lesson. It helps to take the Level 1 certification “teach the teacher” course beforehand, but I didn’t do that. I took that course after the fact. Personally, I think getting certified as a Level II Teaching Professional before getting certified as a Level I is the way to go. You’ll know that you have the knowledge of the rules and the strokes, and then you can build on your own experience by observing and listening to others.